Eugeology: Eugene's List of Hard Rock Albums and Possible Gems Part 18 - Foghat 'Foghat Live'

Let’s face it… If you were alive in the late 1970s and you had a taste for hard rock, you knew about ‘Foghat Live’. If not, then you were probably hiding in an Iranian spider hole or your time was swallowed up with Donny & Marie fan club business.

‘Foghat Live’ was the first album that I ever owned by Foghat. I had heard “Slow Ride” and “Fool for the City”, but I had never cared enough to purchase any of their albums. My funds were limited to KISS records at the time.

I can’t remember, but I came into possession of ‘Foghat Live’ on cassette. I think it was given to me when I purchased a second hand boom box in the early 1980s. Anyways… I thought it was a great album and it really opened my eyes to Foghat. I thought they kicked ass! And from that point on, I started acquiring Foghat albums. I even have a Foghat belt buckle packed away somewhere.

I’m not sure how overdubbed this album is, but I don’t care. It sounds like pure ass kickin’ to me. The album reeks with energy and the loud distorted guitars that I crave.

There’s only six songs on that bad boy. The two hits, a classic cover (2 actually, but everyone knows the Willie Dixon tune), and three tunes that you may not know.

Tim did notice the little “slow down” in “Slow Ride”. That has been there for as long as I have been listening to the album. It has become an accepted occurrence that doesn’t manage to drive me crazy. It’s just an anomaly that has become something that I ignore like Grandparents day. Ya know?

My personal favorite from the album is their cover of Willie Dixon’s “I Just Want To Make Love To You”. The studio version from Foghat is good, but this live version really kicks it into overdrive.

I love the slide guitars and at times the vocalist sounds like he’s about to crap his pants. Although I’ve never seen Foghat, I’ve always felt that they MUST have been a great live act that had to be seen for full appreciation.

Since I have replaced my beloved Zune with Spotify, it’s still easy to hear new albums. And Foghat released on just last year called ‘Under the Influence’. It’s a very good album!

Yeah, I was surprised too!

But ‘Foghat Live’ is one of those albums that should absolutely be in your collection. It should be taken out at least once a year and played loud.

I’ve owned it on cassette, vinyl, and I recently purchased the CD from Walmart when I stumbled across it in the $5 dump bin.

And in my opinion, it was $5 well spent!